DMK president M K Stalin on Wednesday said CEC Gyanesh Kumar must resign from his post and claimed that he has no right to continue in office.
Demanding that the SIR exercise be halted, the former Tamil Nadu chief minister sought a fair probe, "into everything that transpired within the EC and those responsible should be held accountable."
Stalin, in a statement, said that the "explosive findings," published by Indian Express backed by evidence, had cast "serious doubts" over the results of every Assembly election held after the SIR exercise.
He said his party had all along consistently opposed move to delete crores of voters from the electoral rolls in the name of SIR.
It was "rushed through just months ahead of elections in state after state, and it was riddled with irregularities, sparking widespread unrest, particularly in West Bengal," he alleged.
As early as March this year, the DMK, along with other Opposition parties, moved an impeachment motion against Kumar.
"He has no right to continue in office any longer. Kumar must go immediately. The SIR exercise must be halted. The DMK demands a fair and thorough investigation into everything that has transpired within the Election Commission and that those responsible be held accountable," Stalin said.
The ruling BJP, however, said that election commissioners sharing differing views in official deliberations shows the Election Commission is functioning democratically and demolishes the opposition parties' allegation that it is "dictatorial".
Two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, red-flagged issues relating to the deletion of names under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and raised objections to the decision-making process 14 times in the past few months, according to a report in Indian Express.
Reacting to it, the Election Commission asserted that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution, and all its orders "are an outcome of the unanimous decisions of the full Commission in the past one year".
The opposition parties, which have been critical of the EC over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, latched on to the issue to demand immediate impeachment proceedings against CEC Kumar in Parliament.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, reiterated his "vote chori" charge against the EC, terming it an act of treason and a crime against the people of India.
"The BJP, RSS and EC, who organised it have committed an act of treason. Justice will be served," Gandhi said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal demanded that CEC Gyanesh Kumar should be jailed and immediately removed from his post.
"Impeach CEC to save democracy," TMC (Mamata faction) MP Derek O'Brien said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that on 24 April 2026, 73 opposition Rajya Sabha MPs had submitted a new Notice of Motion to the Secretary General to remove CEC Kumar.
"The Monsoon Session of Parliament has not yet been prorogued. Will the Hon'ble Rajya Sabha Chairman now decide on that pending Notice?" Kharge said, adding that the country will demand answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, party spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "The media reports saying that the election commissioners shared differing views in official deliberations is a reflection of pure democracy."
"If there is no communication and exchange of views among the election commissioners who conduct polls, the opposition parties would allege 'dictatorship' and call them 'yes men' of the government," he charged.
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh, however, alleged that CEC Kumar has functioned as a "hatchet man" for Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who, in turn, is the designated executor of the PM's wishes.
"What the CEC has been doing is with the full knowledge, support and, in fact, at the instigation of the PM and HM themselves. #Gyaneshgate has been orchestrated by G2. Of that there can be no doubt," he said.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the central government and the Election Commission need to take corrective steps in order to prevent people from losing faith in the elections.
"Corrective action needs to be taken somewhere. Otherwise, if people lose faith in elections, what remains of democracy? Election is the very foundation of democracy.... So I believe the members of the Election Commission and the Government of India need to reflect on this," the National Conference leader said.
Thackeray demanded that CEC Gyanesh Kumar be jailed and that the last elections in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu be nullified and repolls be held in these states using ballot papers.
"Gyanesh Kumar should be immediately sacked and jailed," the former Maharashtra chief minister said, thanking the ECs for "exposing" Kumar.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said in Lucknow that governments formed during a period when the Election Commission was not functioning impartially were "unconstitutional", and that the "interference" with the poll panel amounted to "trampling" democracy.
"This means that the governments which have been formed during this period are unconstitutional governments," Yadav said.
Senior Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said there is no doubt remaining that Gyanesh Kumar has no right to remain in office and must resign. He said this is a serious issue and an example of "double bulldozer sarkar".
"An external bulldozer works against institutions and internal bulldozer is the CEC who has bulldozed his own organisation and his own colleagues and has hijacked the EC," Singhvi said.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) also demanded an immediate halt to the SIR process, and the removal of Kumar.
In a statement, the CPI(M) Politburo said revelations raise serious questions not just about the process, but more importantly about the integrity of the Election Commission of India (ECI) itself.
CPI(M) MP John Brittas said this is no longer an Election Commission, it is a "one-man autocracy" under CEC Kumar. Parliament must immediately start the process for the removal of the CEC, he said.
CPI general secretary D Raja said CEC Gyanesh Kumar must resign over "Electoral purge".
"The CPI has consistently warned that governments cannot be allowed to handpick voters in a democracy. CEC Gyanesh Kumar has become the face of the electoral purge, eroding public trust in the constitutional body. He has no right to continue, and to restore trust and credibility in the ECI, he must resign," Raja said.
TMC's Mamata Banerjee-led faction leader Abhishek Banerjee demanded the removal of CEC Kumar and sought a court-monitored investigation into the functioning of the poll panel.
"The CEC must be removed immediately and a court-monitored investigation ordered," he said.
He alleged that "disenfranchising lakhs of voters to allegedly benefit one political party strikes at the very foundation of our democracy", and said those responsible must be held accountable.
Kejriwal too demanded that the entire SIR exercise be cancelled and that CEC Kumar should immediately be arrested, alleging that he was running the Election Commission on his own, making the SIR carried out across the country "illegal".
"So today, we demand that the entire SIR process be cancelled, that all changes made under SIR be cancelled, and that the voter list from three years ago be restored," the AAP chief said.
Kumar should be arrested and a case of sedition should be registered against him, he added.